FFPD co-funded by bremenports

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Bremen’s Senate has given its go-ahead for bremenports to become a member of the Finnafjord Port Development company (FFPD).

Back in May 2016, the Icelandic government signed an agreement with the municipalities of Langanesbyggð and Vopnafjörður, the engineering company EFLA, and bremenports, aimed at constructing a multipurpose deep-sea (50+ m) port in North-East Iceland.

As such, the two Icelandic municipalities will form the Finnafjord Port Authority (FFPA), responsible, among many, for granting licences to terminal operators. Bremenports, in turn, will aid the project with its expertise on port development.

As a result, the business model behind the Finnafjord port, inclusive of franchise structure, will be developed by the FFPD for FFPA’s approval. Investors will be invited to take part in the port’s detailed planning process. The subsequent construction of the port facilities, as well as freight handling operations, will lie in the hands of the investors, too.

The FFPD will be officially founded in the first half of 2017, comprising the four abovementioned parties.

Since year 2004 an industrial site of 167 ha has been demarcated and outlined in the masterplan for the Finnafjord area. According to it, the Port of Finnafjord will offer 6.3 km of quays, partly with depths going beyond 50 m. The new Icelandic harbour will chiefly target transhipment-serving trade flows crossing the North Pole on their way between Asia and Europe.

“Both the Icelandic Government and the general public regard the Finnafjord Port Project as the country’s most important infrastructure project right now. Shipping and logistics will increase significantly in this part of the world in future. Iceland consequently wants to profit from this trend and establish a new port on the central Arctic shipping route,” Martin Günthner, Bremen’s Senator for Economic Affairs and Ports, commented.

The port authority Bremenports manages the German harbours in Bremerhaven and Bremen.